Here's why you should ditch skim milk for full-fat

For years we’ve been told to opt for light or skim over creamy full-fat milk.

But now this is being turned on its head, with research suggesting those who consume full-fat dairy products weigh less and are less likely to develop type 2 diabetes too.

Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian and his colleagues published a study in the journal Circulation, which analysed the blood of 3333 adults over 15 years, and found those who had byproducts of full-fat dairy, had a 46 per cent lower risk of getting diabetes.

When dietary guidelines urged people to lower their fat intake, it was to ensure people would reduce the amount of cholesterol and unhealthy fats they were consuming.

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Instead, people misinterpreted this to mean ‘cut out fat altogether,’ and what studies have found is that when people limit their fat intake, they tend to compensate for it by eating sugar and carbohydrates, both of which convert into fat and can increase a person’s risk of diabetes.

Another study published in the American Journal of Nutrition, analysed the effects of low and full-fat dairy on obesity. Among 18,438 women, they found those who consumed higher rates of full-fat dairy had an eight per cent lower risk of being overweight or obese.

These studies finally confirm what doctors, nutritionists and researchers have been claiming for years - that full-fat dairy is a vital part of a person’s healthy diet.

Consuming full-fat dairy gives your body the calories it needs to stay fuller for longer, reducing one’s desire to snack on sugary foods.

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It’s also possible that the fats in dairy help the liver and muscles to break down sugar from food, as well, high-fat foods like cheese, may work to improve one’s insulin response, lowering their diabetes risk.

“In the absence of any evidence for the superior effects of low fat dairy, and some evidence that there may be better benefits of whole fat dairy products for diabetes, why are we recommending only low fat diary? We should be telling people to eat a variety of dairy and remove the recommendation about fat content,” Mozaffarian told Time.

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The doctor isn’t suggesting you start consuming vast amounts of full-fat dairy products, as much more research needs to be done, however, you can raise your glass of full-fat milk to full-fat diary making a come back.